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History of Heironeous/Chapter 13
So Heironeous stood, when the sons of Gither had finished their report, and spake unto the fifty and five with whom he had fought so many evils, and saith, #My brothers, for I may call you such, for he that fights with me is my brother, this day we go into battle against such a foe as we have never faced, and I tell ye truly, we shall not all return. #For behold, we have been preserved against dragons, and demons, and orcs, and goblins, and spiders as tall as houses, and worms of purple hue that devour whole cities, yet this enemy is greater than them all. #I beg of thee, my brothers, permit me to go down into battle alone, that ye may not die here in the lonely desert, but return unto thy wives, and thy children. #And Salan, son of Roka, stood before Heironeous, and spake unto him gently, saying, My lord and my brother, we have marched here behind thee, facing all dangers, because we love thee, and because we love thee we have sworn to follow thee. #And we will follow thee into battle, yea, and we would follow thee if thou sayest unto us, Ye shall all surely perish, and we would follow thee even unto the gates of hell and into the jaws of death, for our lives matterth not compared with our honour and our oaths, and our honour and our oaths matterth not compared with our love for thee. #And Heironeous wept for his men, but forbade them not, and bid them follow him, and he led them down to the place which was a riverbed of old. #And when they drew nigh unto the camp of the enemy, and had crossed their perimeter and avoided their guards, Salan, son of Roka spake unto Heironeous, saying, If it please thee, my lord, we have created for thee a banner, that we may follow thee even through the dust of battle. #And Heironeous looked, and beheld the banner which his men had created, and it was a fist, clutching a lighning bolt, in memory of the first battle in which Heironeous led his fifty and five, and the smile of Heironeous gave courage to his men as he gazed upon it. #And Heironeous spake, saying, Even as your lives were preserved in the battle against the dragons, may you be preserved by this banner, that we may meet again at the end of this day. #And with these words, the army of Heironeous didst charge forward from their place of concealment, and with a great roar did they charge, even as the roar of lions, and like dragons they did fight, with all the strength they could muster. #And the guards of the enemy fell back, astonished by the surprise of the attack, and amazed at its ferocity. #And the Scourge of Battle heard the sounds of warfare in his camp, and dismissed it, saying, Surely my men fight over the spoils of war, and I shall leave them to their squabbles, lest I am forced to kill them. #And the army of Heironeous slew the first five hundred of the army of Hextor, and still they were far from his tent. #And Hextor heard the sounds of battle further, and said, Surely my men fight over the women we have captured, this one seeking a wife, this one a concubine, and I shall leave them to their squabbles. #And the army of Heironeous slew the second five hundred, yea, and another thousand did they slay, before Hextor emerged from his tent, and witnessed the army of Heironeous, that it was in his camp. #And he saw the banner of Heironeous, a fist clutching a lightning bolt, and he waxed greatly wroth, for his symbol was also a fist, clutching arrows, to symbolise his first conquest over the elves and their archers in the great southern forest. #And Hextor took up his weapons and his armour, and ran towards Heironeous, screaming with rage and anger, and Heironeous looked up, and beheld Hextor, that he was hideous. #And as the sons of Gither had spoken, so it was that Hextor had six arms and six weapons, and in his haste Hextor smote his own men to the ground that they died, for Hextor was blind with rage. #And Heironeous stepped out from his army, that he might meet the Scourge of Battle without endangering his men, and he put forth his hand, and commanded Hextor to stop, and surrender. #And Hextor did not listen, but swung with all his might at Heironeous, that he might smite him to the ground and slay him. #But Heironeous was not hit by the blows of Hextor, for he moved aside, and his sword lashed out as a serpent's tongue, and drew blood from the side of Hextor. #And Hextor and Heironeous gazed upon each other, and they knew each other, for all that the countenance of Heironeous had changed and for all that the form of Hextor was altered; and the gods did gaze upon them, to see what they would do. #And great and terrible was the battle that day, that the army of Heironeous and the army of Hextor didst cease striving one with another to witness the great clash, for mighty were the blows of Hextor, and skilful were the blows of Heironeous, and they fought all that day, from noon even until the setting of the sun. #And as the sun set, Heironeous stabbed his brother, even unto the heart, and Hextor howled with the pain, and pulled out the sword of Heironeous, and fled the battlefield, leaving his men behind. #And the army of Heironeous looked, and the army of Hextor also, and saw that Heironeous was unmarked, yea, the weapons of Hextor had left no wound upon him, and they called him that day Invincible. #And the army of Hextor surrendered unto the army of Heironeous in that moment, throwing down their weapons and begging for their lives. Category:History of Heironeous